"Reid told me they shot the plane down with the railgun they'd built at Carmichael Ranch."
"Oh, my God," Dani whispered, seeing the shock on Patrick's face. While they'd gone over theories that included a bomb, they'd never considered that the plane had been shot down. She moved closer to him, putting her hand on his arm.
"They shot the plane down?" Patrick echoed. "That was eight years ago. The technology isn't even ready now, is it?"
"It's close. Consistency and accuracy have been a problem with the railgun. But those are the results reported by MDT. I'm not sure about what Reid has developed in his freelance operation. MDT makes a lot of weapons, as you know. They're also involved in communications and aviation systems. The railgun is one small part of the MDT portfolio of business, but for Reid it was his main focus. He wanted to make that gun better and faster than his brother could. It's a potentially a significant new advancement in weaponry. The railguns will be put on ships. They’ll be able to attack from the middle of the ocean without the need for chemical propellants."
"Those weapons will be great," she said. "Unless they're used in the wrong way. Unless they're used by people intent on evil—like Reid Packer." Her stomach churned as she thought of all the possibilities. "You just said he wasn't completely sane. Didn't you think it was time to blow the whistle?"
Before the senator could reply, Patrick answered for him. "He couldn't do that. His hands were too dirty. Isn't that right?"
The senator shrugged. He still couldn't make the admission out loud.
"What about the change in pilot?" Reid asked again. "Was there some reason the other pilot was kept off the plane?"
"As far as I know, the original pilot got food poisoning, and the other guy was a replacement. If that's not the truth, I don't know what is."
Patrick shook his head, pacing around the salon. "This is unbelievable. You're a United States senator; how could you stand by and do nothing?"
"Like you said, I was in too deep," the senator replied, finally conceding his involvement.
"What's happening today?" she asked. "Tania Vaile told us that something big was about to take place, but she didn't say what. Do you know?"
"I don't know. I was having my usual Fourth of July barbecue today until Erica called me away. I left a house full of people to come and meet you. They're going to wonder where I am."
She thought about that. Maybe help would be coming. On the other hand… "Erica probably made up a story to tell your wife and your friends. You've been called away on important business. No one will question that. You're often absent from family events."
"That's true, but not this party. My wife will be angry when I don't come back. She'll probably think something is wrong." He frowned. "At least, I hope so. It's getting dark."
She followed his gaze to window. While they'd been talking, dusk had fallen. It was after eight o'clock now. All she could see through the windows were shadows of the sea.
"I don't understand what's happening," the senator said, and for the first time there was fear in his voice. "I've always done everything Reid asked me to do."
"You think he's loyal to you?" Patrick asked in amazement. "You're nothing to him, Senator. You're a tool he uses when he wants, and when he's done, he gets rid of it."
"We're friends."
"Reid doesn't have friends," Patrick said. "He has people who are useful to him."
"Erica said you were going to be a cover story," she put in, drawing the men's attention back to her. "He's setting you up, Senator."
"For what?"
"Whatever his big plan is." She wondered how she could feel so calm when her life was on the line. "He's going to shoot something down or blow something up." She looked at Patrick. "He's going to kill us. Something terrible is going to happen. It will look like an accident, just like the plane crash and my dad's disappearance."
"Killing us isn't the big event," Patrick said, obviously following her train of thought. "It can't be. There has to be more, Dani."
He was right. There had to be more, and it all suddenly made sense. "It's the Fourth of July. We're on a boat. The railgun is made to shoot from the deck of a ship."
"Oh, God," the senator said, sinking down on the couch.
"What?" she asked. "What are you thinking?"
"When I came on board with Erica, I saw two men moving a large crate onto the upper deck. I asked her what was going on. She said she'd investigate and find out."
"I'm betting there's a railgun in that crate," Patrick said tersely.
"Is it that small?" she asked. "Can it be moved on board a boat like this?"
"There are different sizes," the senator replied, a defeated look coming into his eyes. "They have one that's huge, but others that are more transportable. So, yes, there could be a gun on the boat. It could have been in the crate that I saw."
"What would they be shooting at?" she asked. "What's the target?"
"I don't know."
She looked at Patrick; he gave her a helpless, frustrated look.
"It could be anywhere, Dani."
"Not anywhere," she corrected. "It has to be somewhere important, a place that has meaning." She paused. "What about the state capitol? Or, hell, what about the US Capitol? Could the gun shoot that far, Senator?"
"Possibly," Dillon said. "But it's after eleven o'clock there now."
"That's true," she muttered. "So it could be more local or a target on the west coast. The attack would be traced to this boat. Maybe Packer wants to tie the senator to the attack. That would tie in with Erica's mention of Packer needing a cover story."
"If they do shoot the gun from here," Patrick continued. "They'll want to take it with them before they destroy the yacht. There has to be a second boat, a way to get the gun and the people who shot it back to shore."
That made sense. "I wonder what they're waiting for," she mused. "It's been at least an hour since we left the harbor. Why haven't they done it already? Does it take time to set up the gun? Are we not far enough from shore?"
"They're waiting for cover," Patrick said, a new gleam in his eyes.
"It's already dark."
"They could be waiting for the fireworks," he added. "Think about it. With the sky lit up from fireworks, no one would notice the blast of a gun that looks like a streak of lightning."
A loud rumble echoed through the air. "Is the show starting now?" she asked, rushing to the window, but she couldn't see any fireworks. She had no idea where they were, and it was the scariest feeling in the world. And then a jagged light ripped through the night sky, revealing swirling, stormy clouds.
It wasn't fireworks; it was thunder and lightning.
A shiver ran down her spine.
It was just like all the times before
, she thought, memories racing through her mind…her dad's plane had gone down in a lightning storm, Patrick's mother's plane had crashed in a lightning storm, Jake had rescued Katherine during a lightning storm.
And now it was happening to her
.
Patrick pulled her away from the window, and said, "Stand back, I'm going to break the glass."
"Any noise will bring the men with the guns."
"We have to take that chance. We're sitting ducks in here."
As he grabbed a chair, she ran toward the bar, looking for some other weapon. There was a fire extinguisher on the wall. She grabbed it as Senator Dillon got up and opened a closet next to the bar. He pulled out a wooden broom.
"Better than nothing," he said grimly.
Patrick swung the metal chair at the window with all of his might. The glass cracked. He did it two more times, and then the window finally shattered.
Patrick went out the window first. When no one came running to investigate the broken glass, he offered his hand to Dani. She climbed out, the senator right behind her.
While she still had doubts about the senator's innocence in anything, at the moment he was on their side, and they needed him as an ally.
As they crept along the side deck, fireworks began lighting up the sky over the harbor. With the fireworks came thunder and lightning, a cacophony of sound and light surrounding them.
They headed for the stairs, stopping abruptly when a man with a gun came around the corner.
Patrick tackled him before he could get off a shot, slamming the man's head against the wall and then shoving him into a corner as he fell unconscious. She was shocked at how fast everything happened, but she'd seen the ruthless determination on Patrick's face. He was fighting for all their lives. No time now for hesitation. She had to be ready, too.
Patrick grabbed the man's gun, and they went up the stairs as quietly as they could, pausing toward the top to assess the situation.
There were three men on the deck, all dressed in jeans and dark t-shirts. Dani didn't recognize any of them. One stood at the far edge, talking on a phone. The other two were near the railgun.
She'd seen photos of the weapon during the MDT hearings, but seeing the five-foot long weapon in person was another story. Two metal rails surrounded a missile-like chamber. The gun stood about three feet off the ground.
They hadn't set it off, which meant they had a little time—not only to save themselves, but also to save the innocent people who would be killed by that gun.
Patrick whispered instructions.
"Dani—when I say go, spray the two guys by the gun. Senator—you rush the guy with the phone. I'm going to take out whoever I can with as many shots as I can get off. We have to do this all at once. We've got the element of surprise, a few seconds of time. Let's make them count."
"I'm ready," she said.
Dillon also gave a nod. "Got it."
They made their way up to the deck.
One of the men standing by the gun turned in their direction.
"Go," Patrick said.
She sprayed a sharp concentrated stream of foamy fire suppressant at the two men while the senator moved behind her.
One of the men came through the wet mist, his gun drawn. Patrick shot him in the chest, and he fell to the ground.
As her extinguisher ran out, she jumped behind a post as Patrick took cover a few feet away and exchanged gunfire with the man still standing by the railgun. Across the deck, she could see the senator fighting with a much younger man, and he did not look like he was winning.
Another man came up from the stairs on the other side of the deck. She called out a warning to Patrick. He shot the guy before he could fire off his gun.
More gunfire. Then Patrick's shot hit the man by the gun. The man stumbled and fell against the railgun, his weight sending the gun onto its side.
The railgun sparked, a magnificent shot of light that blinded her, and then a projectile took off. It went straight up, then turned and came back toward the deck.
"Jump," Patrick yelled, shoving her toward the side of the boat.
She didn't jump. She was too terrified to leap into the inky black water, but she didn't have a choice.
As the projectile hit the deck, the boat exploded, and she was flung through the air along with wood, metal and pieces of the ship, hoping and praying that she'd survive the blast and that Patrick would, too.
It couldn't end like this, not after all they'd been through.
Twenty-Four
She hit the water hard, a relentless force dragging her deep into the sea. She fought with all her strength to get back to the surface, but she wasn't sure she would make it. Her lungs were bursting. Her head was spinning. She could barely think. She needed air desperately.
Kicking and pulling at the water, she finally began to come up. When she burst through the surface, she gasped, sucking in air as quickly as she could. She was yards away from the flaming remnants of the boat, which had been completely shattered by the explosion. How quickly things had changed.
Thunder crashed over her head; lightning flashed across the sky. She swam through the darkness, using the lightning strikes to find her way. She'd never believed in the power of lightning, but now she could feel the electricity charging the air and the water around her.
You will find the last piece of the puzzle. You will know the truth.
Her great-grandmother's words rang through her head.
Dani hadn't understood the prophecy.
She hadn't believed her sister when Alicia had said the lightning would show her what she needed to see.
And she'd been doubtful that her brother Jake had actually seen a vision of their dead father right before his plane crashed in the Mexican jungle.
For months, she'd maintained they were all a little crazy, that there was no conspiracy, no mystery to solve.
Now she was a believer. But had she taken too long to see the truth?
The lightning vanished. Darkness surrounded her. The rain poured down on her head, a steamy shower on a hot summer night.
She couldn't see a foot in front of her. But she had to keep going. Lives were at stake, including her own.
She swam harder, then she bumped into something hard and heavy—a body.
Her heart stopped.
Terror ran through her.
Oh, God! Was she too late?
* * *
Patrick blinked the water out of his eyes. All he could see was water and fire. The yacht had been completely destroyed by the blast. It was a miracle he'd survived. Now, he just had to find Dani.
"Dani," he yelled, as he treaded water and peered through the mix of fire and darkness.
Where was she
? He needed her to be alive. He couldn't live without her. He was in love with her, and he'd never had the chance to tell her that. He had to have that chance.
He called her name until he was hoarse. His arms were getting tired. But he couldn't give up. Who knew when or if help would come?
He wondered what had happened to the others on board. And what about the second boat? There had to have been one nearby. He wished now he'd taken a look around before they'd charged onto the deck.
"Dani," he called again, realizing that if he didn't find her soon, he'd be in real trouble. The fire was burning out, and clouds covered the sky, leaving nothing but darkness and fear.